Magic comes to the Clements Library ANN ARBOR—Magic with cards, coins, ribbons, boxes and a variety of other tricks will fill the University of Michigan’s Clements Library at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 when Robert Olson recreates the magic of 19th century magician Richard Potter. Olson performs with re-created and original props, 19th century costume (not the usual black tuxedo) and the early language that appeared in the magic books of Potter’s time. The performance is free, but seating is limited to the first 200. Children are encouraged to attend. The Clements Library is on South University Street on U-M’s Central Campus in Ann Arbor. Potter first performed his feats of magic in 1810 at the Columbian Museum in Boston and advertised his show as "An Evening’s Brush to Sweep Away Care or a Medley to Please." He offered his audiences ventriloquism, a comic dissertation on noses, sang comic songs and presented a shadow puppet play called, "The Broken Bridge." Robert Olson, from Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, has spent the past 30 years studying and recreating Potter’s magic from 18th and 19th century magic books, broadsides, advertisements, diaries and letters from people who saw Potter perform. Olson has performed at museums and historical societies across the U.S., Canada and England. For more information about the Clements Library, visit www.clements.umich.edu/ Upcoming exhibits: Benjamin Brown and the Circus in America >>

Contact: Joanne Nesbit